Extending corneal storage with 2.5% chondroitin sulfate (K-Sol)

K-Sol corneal storage medium maintains corneal viability for at least ten days, compared with McCarey-Kaufman (M-K) medium, which does so for a reported maximum of three days. Since many eye banks still use M-K medium exclusively, stored corneas must be used without undue delay, and shipping time further hastens the planned surgery time. Transferring the shipped M-K medium-stored cornea to K-Sol offers a simple way of increasing storage time in our eye bank. Ninety-five out of 100 transferred corneas (95%) remained clear 3 to 18 months postoperatively. There were no primary graft failures, and transferred corneal mates were clear. A comparable series of 100 corneas stored in M-K medium alone, or in K-Sol alone, were clear in 93% and 97% of the transplants. Analysis of donor rims after keratoplasty indicated statistically significantly more endothelial cell loss during storage in corneas transferred to K-Sol compared with 18 corneas preserved only in M-K medium for a similar length of time. There was no statistical significance between the transferred group and the group preserved in only K-Sol. Transferring M-K medium stored corneas to K-Sol medium may be a useful means of extending corneal storage time, resulting in improved tissue utilization.